The intergenerational transmission of physical child abuse was addressed by examining the relationship between 121 male adolescent delinquents' self-reported childhood experiences with physical discipline and the intensity of the discipline they endorse for children. Childhood experiences with physical punishment were assessed through the frequency with which adolescents were punished by their parents and the magnitude of resulting injuries they had received. Endorsement of discipline was defined both by intensity of physical punishment and by intensity of any punishment, irrespective of form. The influences of sex and perceived rewardingness of the administrator of the harshest physical discipline were also examined, along with subjects' attributions for the punishment they had received. / Adolescents were asked to choose the discipline they (a) would use and (b) would feel like using in response to a series of parent-child scenarios in which the child was misbehaving. A statistically significant, but small, relationship was found between the magnitude of the injuries subjects reported having received as a result of punishment and the intensity of punishment they endorsed: Subjects who had received physical injuries were more likely to indicate that they would administer intense discipline to their children. / Similarly, a small, but statistically significant, interaction of frequency of punishment and sex of the disciplining parent was found: Adolescents who reported having been physically punished frequently by their fathers were more likely than those punished by their mothers or those not frequently punished to indicate that they would feel like using intense physical punishment with their own children. / None of the attributions had any utility for predicting adolescents' endorsements of punishment, but did suggest that adolescents generally perceive their parents' punishment as justified and well-intentioned. / Overall, the results of this study do not provide strong support for postulations based upon social learning theory or theories of moral development regarding the role of early disciplinary experiences in predicting adolescents' current attitudes toward punishment. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-10, Section: B, page: 4766. / Major Professor: Wallace A. Kennedy. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78087 |
| Contributors | Clausen, Margaret Lynne., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 145 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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